Paint Shop

Paint Shop by Arkadium is a casual mobile puzzle game where players are challenged to analyze color combinations, experiment with mixing ratios, and apply their understanding of color theory to progress through increasingly complex levels by creating specific target colors.

Genre: Casual Puzzle Game

Engine: N/A

Team size: 1 (Freelance)

Duration: Febuary 2024

Platform: PC, Mobile

Role(s) and Responsibilities

Level Design:

Created, tested, and revised 20 unique level environments (e.g., puzzles, layouts).
Used a sawtooth progression curve to increase difficulty and teach game mechanics.
Applied color theory principles to craft engaging and functional levels.

Design Process

Brainstorming

My first step in the design process to brainstorm ideas for the game or level I intend to create. I define the overall theme, mood, and purpose of the level. Consider how the level fits into the broader game narrative. Identify key gameplay elements and challenges specific to the level.

For this project my main focus was to create levels that didn't get overly repetitive, used unique designs, and taught and tested players on their use of game mechanics. I used a sawtooth progression curve of the game mechanics to guide my design process.

Playtesting and Iteration

After the intial brainstorming of the levels I implemented the designs and started to get a feel for how the levels were coming together. I worked on iterating on the levels as playtesters gave me feed back on the designs. One challenge was with realtively simple mechanics was making each level not feel overly repeitive.

Final Details and Art Pass

After each level was revised, feedback was implemented, and deemed complete it was approved by the project lead and added to the game where they are plosihed and given final details.